Random Comics News Story Round-Up
* for some reason, the Chicago Tribune material doesn't show up on standard web searches as much as it should. It's better now that they're with the LA Times, but even then you tend to catch the reprint in the Times as opposed to the original publication. Anyway, there's a sort-of lengthy profile of Nicole Hollander in a recent issue, including I think the brave admission that Sylvia maxed out at 80 papers years ago and is now only in 17.

* there is as far I know almost no Jeff Smith original artwork out there, and I've spent the time rifling around his studio at 2 AM when he's out of the country to tell you that it's not for lack of people trying to get this stuff from the cartoonist. Kidding aside, Smith has a rare and nice-looking piece up to benefit the CBLDF, this one featuring RASL rather than Bone.

* this is the first review of the newest, soon-to-be-released volume of the popular Scott Pilgrim series I can recall seeing.

* the writer and reviewer Sean T. Collins has a round-up of discussions surrounding Final Crisis #7, the last issue of DC's latest and delayed (by about three, three and half months) cosmic event mini-series. This includes an admission by Morrison that Wonder Woman doesn't get to do as much as Batman and Superman because he doesn't think as much of the character, or at least didn't at the time. A fine line of analysis from Collins himself comes in an earlier post where Collins discusses how reading something with an effect sinilar Grant Morrison's comics hit him when his life was most like a Grant Morrison comic. I've felt the same way, although maybe not about Morrison. I think most people relate to art in this way at some point.

* as pertains to my criticism of the YALSA lists for only noting writers as authors, I nearly forgot that Robin Brenner was nice enough to write in the same day as that post:

"I am the Chair this year, for this list, and I too noticed the lack of credit for artists. Originally we were restricted by the format YALSA requested we abide by, but I had contacted them to ask if we could include the artists in the credits for each title. They decided there was no reason not to (it's not like the Caldecott, where the award is only for art, for example).

"So, they are in the process of updating the list -- I know they were working on it this evening, but rna into some trouble with their web interface. They assured be it should be corrected by tomorrow morning."

That's good to hear.

* finally, there's a really solid post here from Garry Tyrrell on the subject of making a living through one's web site. Tyrrell reminds that publishing on-line is as much about a set of skill applied to the task and finding a successful way to present one's work as it is for any print publisher.